Choban Elektrik - Choban Elektrik (self-released)

Last summer we did an interview with Club d'Elf's Mike Rivard (check here) when he released his gnawa fusion and psychedelic masterpiece Electric Moroccoland. Now a NYC trio lead by keyboardist Jordan Shapiro brings another kind of fusion in a taste approaching Rivard's striking improvisations. Choban Elektrik takes Albanian, Macedonian Greek and Armenian traditional songs (let's say the balkanic répertoire) and turns them to wild prog-rock-psychedelic-free-jazz mainly improvised pieces. On Choban ElektrikFrank Zappa's disciple Jordan Shapiro plays ultra-powerful, heavy and dirty Fender Rhodes and Hammond B3 - a category in which he joins his NYC heavyweights counterparts John Medeski and Marco Benevento. Tracks like Koftos or Steve's Gajda will blow your mind for good, making Shapiro and his mates a very exciting and young crew worth to follow. Probably some 'under the radar' release outside the Big Apple, but truly an impressive record from start to finish.

Djouls

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